The Three Wishes of Draco Malfoy
by HumanTales
Summary: My response to Alchemia Dent's Monkey's Paw challenge. Draco Malfoy finds an object in Borgin & Burkes that grants wishes and uses it. Oneshot.


_(Author's Note: This was written for Alchemia Dent's challenge, which reads: Required: Character must be given 3 wishes, which when granted, result in something unexpected and undesired. Optional, but uber-cool if included: The wishes and their undesired repercussions lead up to/explain some situation in canon (e.g. were the situations that helped create Voldemort or that lead up to the attack on the Potters come into existence through some wishes gone wrong?). And, the 3 wishes are granted through a cursed artifact, such as a monkey claw.)_

The Three Wishes of Draco Malfoy

Draco couldn't believe how easy it had been. The card on the object, which looked like a very hairy hand, had said that it would grant its owner three wishes, three unlimited wishes. As soon as Mr. Borgin's head was turned, Draco swept the thing under his cloak and continued looking at the cursed necklace he'd been examining. Once the shopkeeper was finished with his task, he was able to talk with Draco about those bloody vanishing cabinets. It hadn't been as fruitful a conversation as he'd hoped, but it had been productive anyway; Draco left the shop with three wishes.

Once his mother was finished dragging him from one shop to another to get his school things, Draco settled down in his room to examine his new find. A more careful examination of the card attached to the item than he had been able to manage in the shop named the item as a "Monkey's Paw". Certainly, that's what it looked like. The card also stated that the owner of the monkey's paw would get three wishes; anything his or her heart desired. The wish had only to be stated out loud and it would be granted. Draco couldn't believe his luck; he couldn't figure out why Mr. Borgin hadn't been more careful with anti-theft wards with such a valuable item, but he wasn't going to argue.

Draco considered his wishes carefully; it wouldn't do to waste any with stupid wishes. He certainly didn't need to wish for money, power or even looks. What did he need? As soon as he thought that, he knew the most important thing he needed right now: to succeed in this mission the Dark Lord had given him. After thinking it through, he stood, held the monkey's paw in his right hand and said in a firm voice, "I wish that the mission the Dark Lord has given me, to kill Albus Dumbledore, be successful." Nothing happened immediately, of course, but he hadn't expected it. Now, he could relax a little, knowing that his mission would be a success.

As the school year progressed, and Draco had no luck getting the vanishing cabinets to work, he tried a few other ways of killing Dumbledore. Unfortunately, the cabinets were the only way he could think of to bring Death Eaters into the school and the other methods kept running afoul of Potter. After the Muggle-lover didn't get, or didn't drink, the poisoned mead, Draco told himself to trust his wish; he would succeed in his mission. However, just to be safe, he decided to use a second wish. After all, he reasoned, once I succeed, the Dark Lord will grant me anything I wish. Again he stood, holding his monkey's paw in his right hand, and said, "I wish that the completion of my mission will impress the Dark Lord." Again, nothing happened, but Draco felt even more confident that he would, in the end, kill Dumbledore.

As the end of the school year approached, the vanishing cabinets were finally fixed. Draco ran a couple of tests and everything worked perfectly. A date was set; Hogwarts would be invaded, Draco would kill Dumbledore and the Dark Lord would have the school with Draco at his right hand. His Master would have to get Lucius Malfoy out of Azkaban then. The thought of the prison kept giving Draco nightmares; what if something went wrong and his father was hurt while waiting for his release? Deciding that his nerves might get in the way of him successfully completing his mission, Draco decided to use his third wish. Holding the monkey's paw, he said, "I wish that my parents stay safe." Draco was surprised that the monkey's paw didn't disappear, but decided it would stay until his three wishes were granted.

The night of the Invasion of Hogwarts finally came. The battle was terrible, hexes and curses flying everywhere. It wasn't as simple as it had always happened in Draco's mind, but they were winning. They had to be.

Dumbledore was on the top of the Astronomy Tower. The Muggle-loving fool looked horribly ill, which dampened Draco's spirits a bit. What good did it do to kill the old man if he looked as if he had one foot in the grave already? Draco had practiced the Killing Curse for years, on small animals and with no target, and had never had a problem with it. The act of actually killing another human being, even a fool like Dumbledore, turned out to be much harder than he thought it would be. In the end, when he couldn't manage to do it, Professor Snape took over and killed Dumbledore. The two of them fled Hogwarts' grounds, Draco knowing they wouldn't be able to return until the school was in the Dark Lord's hands.

Professor Snape brought Draco to his own home, where they would be safe. Draco's head was spinning; how could things have gone so wrong? The monkey's paw was guaranteed but it had failed. Draco fell asleep in the musty old house with his mind whirling.

When he woke the next morning, Draco went looking for, and shortly found, the kitchen. Professor Snape and Peter Pettigrew were sitting at the table, talking quietly over their tea and looking worried. As Draco walked into the room, Snape looked up and nodded. "Draco, come sit and have some tea. Pettigrew has some news about the ramifications of last night." He waited until Draco was sitting with a teacup in front of him. "Go ahead," Snape said, nodding at Pettigrew. "Tell him what you've told me."

"The Dark Lord was very angry that you didn't kill Dumbledore," Pettigrew said, stuttering. "He considered having you killed but decided he had a better punishment."

"What?" Draco's stomach was twisting in fear. He was determined, however, not to let it show. Since he'd begun at Hogwarts six years ago, the only person who had seen him afraid or upset had been that busybody ghost and he aimed on keeping it that way.

Pettigrew glanced at Snape nervously, took a deep breath and said in a rush, "Hehaddementorskissyourfatherandhekilledyourmother."

Draco couldn't believe what he thought he'd heard. "Repeat that, a little more slowly please," he said, hoping he had heard wrong. "It sounds like you said the Dark Lord had Dementors Kiss my father and then he killed my mother."

Wide-eyed and sweating, Pettigrew nodded. "Yes, that's right. And, a-a-a-fter your father was Kissed, he was killed." Draco stared at him for a few moments. Then, he silently walked out of the room and went back to the one where he'd slept the night before, lay down and tried not to think.

An unknown amount of time passed before Professor Snape walked into the room. He was levitating a trunk in front of him. Draco dully recognized it as his own. He sat up and decided to get the monkey's paw to get his wishes out of it. After a thorough search of his trunk, Draco couldn't find it.

Snape had been watching Draco search his trunk. When Draco sat back, puzzled, the older man asked, "What are you missing?"

"My monkey's paw," Draco answered. "My wishes weren't granted, so . . ."

"What?" Snape roared, jumping up to loom over Draco. "You wished on a _monkey's paw_?"

"Yes," Draco answered, confused. "Why not?"

"Why not indeed," Snape muttered, shaking his head. "Don't you know better than to magically wish for anything? They always come out wrong in the end. Didn't your father ever tell you that?"

Draco shook his head. "No. He told me to do whatever it takes to meet my goals. When I saw this in Borgin & Burkes . . ."

"Did they sell it to you?" Snape asked, interrupting again.

Draco shook his head. "No," he said, avoiding the other man's eyes, "I took it."

"I thought as much. What were your wishes?" Snape's voice had become brisk, his classroom voice. "And I need your exact words."

Draco thought for a moment. "The first one was, 'I wish that the mission the Dark Lord has given me, to kill Albus Dumbledore, be successful.' The second was, 'I wish that the completion of my mission will impress the Dark Lord.' And the final wish was, 'I wish that my parents stay safe.' And none of them were granted!" he finished, feeling betrayed.

"Actually, they were," Snape said sighing after a moment's thought. "Your mission was completed. By me instead of by you, but Albus Dumbledore is most definitely dead. You did impress the Dark Lord—not favourably as you hoped, but you certainly impressed him. And, finally," Snape closed his eyes, a look of utter distaste on his face, "your parents are forever safe. Safe in the grave—no one will ever be able to hurt them again. That's the problems with magical wishes, Draco, they're rarely granted without a terrible cost."

"And now, he'll never trust me. I'll never be more than a powerless toady to him, not even as valued as Pettigrew." Draco looked up at his most respected teacher, feeling nothing but despair. "I can't leave or he'll have me killed. I'm not even important enough to him now for him to kill me himself. What am I going to do?"

For several long moments, Severus Snape stared at the younger man, tracing his thin lips with a finger. Then, abruptly, he smiled. "Mr. Malfoy, I have a proposition for you."

fin


End file.
